Page 7 of Crash into me

There’s always that one summer that changes your life, that makes you a different person. I experienced that rush, that growth that shapes you into a new person.

In those stories, they move forward and grow.

But for me, I took a hundred steps back. I’m a new person, stepping back into a life I thought was done and over with.

What do I even do with this growth when there’s no room for it in my past?

Returning home, something I never thought I would be doing. The thud of the solid oak door closing sounds like bad decisions and future regret.

But how could I regret saving Sophie? I couldn’t.

“Ground rules,” Dad—Kent—chides, crossing his arms over his chest. He looks over to Mom. “Oh, Cara, by the way, Skyler faked her memory issue. She’s home, and no one will know she remembers.”

Mom just nods, tinkering with her purse. “That’s good to know, Skyler.” She looks to me with what resembles happiness in her face.

Standing isn’t very comfortable. The scrapes and bruises are healing, but I’m covered in bandages, adorning a nice scar along my palm that needed ten stitches.

I refrain from throwing my head back. “How many rules can there be? Every piece of my life has been destroyed,” I cry out.

The room grows quiet, and I note the way Mom inches towards me a little. “No talking back, rule number one.” He holds up a solitary finger.

I shake my head as he turns away, he walks around the marble living room like a military officer. There are a few moments where he nods his head, as if he’s rolling through a conversation with himself.

Which is fitting, as the only person he listens to is him.

“Anyways,” he drawls, fixing his cuffs, “I don’t know what happened, or where you get off thinking you can do whatever you want Skyler. You know this is a unit.”

“It’s more of a business transaction than a family unit, don’t you think?” I sneer. Months ago, those words may have played in my head, but I never would have allowed them to spill from my lips.

What can I say? I’ve changed.

He only laughs at my outburst. “Are you forgetting that you’ve placed that child’s life in my hands?” He lifts his wrist. “All it would take is one payment unpaid, and poof,”—he snaps his fingers—“she’s dead.”

I recoil at his words; he’s right. If I’m going to do this, I have to do it right.

“Good,” he hisses, “back tobusinessthen. High-profile clients come to dinner? You obey. You dress nice, you smile, flirt with their sons … I don’t give a fuck. Just make our family look good.”

A sinister smile stretches across his face as he takes in my dropped jaw.

“Why do you look so surprised, Skyler? I mean, you left. There’s no room for pleasantries and faking it … You’re back, and this is how it will be until I decide otherwise.”

“But …” I pause as his eyes narrow into slits.

“Warren? His parents are very close friends of mine and your mothers, but their financial situation is more beneficial than anything.”

“Will … will I marry him?” It was always one of their threats, but that seems so dethatched from my life now.

He shrugs. “Unless someone more beneficial comes along, you will.”

Mom walks off, returning with a tall glass of red wine.

“Anything else?” I ask.

“I’ve set a hair appointment the end of the week,” she says quietly. I immediately touch the faded red streak Foster put into my hair. I miss that moment; I miss all of the little moments we shared.

When life was sweet and full of promise.

But now I’m back here.

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